The NCAC's Greatest Athlete

THE OLYMPIC athlete who wins the decathlon, a two-day contest consisting of ten events, is regarded as the “world’s greatest athlete.”

But what if an athlete wins the decathlon three consecutive years?

Such is the case for Ohio Wesleyan’s Andrew Bloom ’09, who won his third straight North Coast Athletic Conference decathlon championship, beating the second-place finisher by more than 200 points. Bloom’s 6270 points surpassed his own school record of 5804, set last year, and was a provisional qualifier for the National Collegiate Athletics Association championship meet, to be held May 21-23 at Marietta College.

The decathlon consists of the 100-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump, and 400-meter dash on the first day, and the 110-meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin, and 1500-meter run on the second day.

Head track coach Kris Boey said Bloom spent the past semester student-teaching and thus his practice schedule was always changing, but his experience made it easier for him to adjust.

“Many days we made adjustments based on how he felt after being on his feet, teaching all day and grading all evening,” Boey said. “It's a challenge trying to prepare an individual, even an experienced decathlete like Andrew, for 10 diverse events.”

Boey said athletes have 30 minutes between each event to prepare for the next one. He said each day takes about five hours to complete.

“Saturday and Sunday were very warm, which adds to the difficulty,” he said.

“Andrew knew he would have to be at his best,” Boey said. “The runner-up from Oberlin was a tough competitor and also surpassed the NCAA qualifying mark.”